Up-and-over door



Patented July 21, 1942 UP-AND-OVER DOOR Howard J. Ferris, Harvard, Ill., assignor to Starline Inc., Harvard, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July 26, 1939, Serial No. 286,651

3 Claims.

The present invention is concerned'with a door of the up-and-over type, such, for example, as is especially suitable for use in a hog house. In particular, the improvements relate (1) to the mounting for the door by which it may be remotely operated with ease and certainty so that it will always shut tight, and (2) to Various other details of construction and assembly as will heren inafter appear.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure l is a fragmentary view in perspective of a hog house with one wall partly broken away to exhibit an interior view of two up-and-over doors, one of which is slightly open, the other being closed;

Fig, 2 is a detail in vertical section through the wall and adjacent roof section of a hog house, and through one of the present doors and the mounting therefor;

Fig. 3 is a detail in section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail in section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a View in elevation of one of the straproller ttings which is attached to the door.

The high house illustrated is provided with Walls 9 and I0 in each of which may be formed one or more rectangular openings II adapted to be closed by the up-and-over door of my invention. As shown, each opening extends upwardly to a point adjacent the juncture of the wall with the adjacent section I2 of a roof which may be of the gambrel type, as is common for hog houses of approved construction. At its lower end each opening may terminate flush with the floor I3 where I have set in place a sill block I4 whose ends may be supported within channels I5 from which the sill block may be disengaged by an upward movement whenever its removal is desired.

The door I6, here shown as of two-ply construction, is provided upon its outer face with a horizontal weatherstrip I'I adapted to lie just above the upper face of the sill block; optionally this weatherstrip may engage the sill block but, to maintain the lower end of the door off the oor, other means are employed as hereinafter noted. The door Width is such as to overlap the opening (see Fig. 4), the side edges of the door lying opposite channels of side rails I8 which are affixed to the inside of the wall adjacent the opening therein. Within the channel of each rail is a trunnion preferably in the form of a is adjustably connected, as by a bolt 2l, to the turned end 22 of a strap 23 formed with longitudinally extending slots 24 through which and the door are extended securing bolts 25. By two such strap-roller fittings aiixed to the door against its lower end, one in cooperation with each side rail, I provide for a sliding and pivotal connection between the door bottom and the hog house wall. This connection may be adjusted as required for close fitting without interference of the door movement in the manner presently to be described.

The upper end of the door should terminate slightly above the lintel 26 of the opening so as to provide a complete closure when in the shut position, as indicated in Fig. 2. This end of the door is supported upon a narrow hanger 2'I having tandem rollers 28 with transversely convex treads (see Fig. 3) adapted to slide freely within a slotted tubular guide 29 which is axed to the under side of the adjacent roof section I2 with the air of suitable brackets 30. This hanger which extends out through the slot of the tubular guide is formed at one end with a nose adapted to receive therethrough a pin 3| which may be conveniently secured to the inner face of the door close to its upper end, as by means of a pair of hook bolts 32. A pivotal connection is accordingly provided between the door at a point adjacent its upper end and the hanger which is adapted for sliding movement within the tubular guide along a line which is proximate to and in parallelism with the slanting roof section adjacent the wall wherein is the opening to be closed or opened by my present up-and-over door.

Aixed to the roof at a point adjacent the upper end. of the .tubular guide is a bracket 33 wherein is rotatably supported a sheave 34 over which may be trained a lifting rope (or chain) 35 adapted to pass through the guide for connection with the hanger. This rope which is used to raise and lower the door is extended away to a desired point convenient for operation where a cleat (not shown) or other securing device may be located so as to facilitate fastening of the rope at any desired place. In this way the door, which tends to descend by gravity to its closed position, may be held open to any extent that is desired. Since the door is relatively light and small, no counter-balancing means need be employed.

There are several advantages arising from the construction that has been described. In the rollerV I9 carried on one end of an arm 20 which 55 rst place, the upper endof vthe door is supported by a hanger that is freely slidable in a slanting track. This tends always to guide the door movements to a shut tight position. The lower end of the door is, of course, always confined close to the opening during all of its movements, and because of this the door may be slightly opened (as indicated in Fig. 1) to provide ventilation but with insuicient clearance for release of the hogs within the house, or to permit little pigs to run in or out while still keeping the sow in. By raising the door only slightly, I provide lateral openings in the upper region, thereby confining a controlled ventilation to such points, since no clearance exists below the lower door end until the door has passed .beyond the sill block; a further slight raising of the door will not only increase the upper lateral openings but will also produce a lower opening as well. Adjustments such as these, or many more, may be made so as to provide exactly the ventilation at places and in amounts as desired. In this connection it may be noted that, in accordance withapproved practice, each opening in the hog house communicates with a separate pen which is enclosed by rail and spindle panels 36, with a feeding trough 3l provided, and consequently it is important that independent operation of all doors be made certain and convenient from a single remote point, if desired. This objective has been attained in full measure by the up-and-over door of my invention which is advantageous in the respects noted, and also in the general simplicity, adaptability and dependability of the parts and ttings entering into its construction. When closed, the door .bottom rests oif the floor, but the sill block which overlaps the door in this position is irremovable so long as the weatherstrip I1 remains closely thereover. When the door is opened, however, the sill block is readily removable (or replaceable) for purposes of cleansing and sanitation.

The strap-roller fittings `may be employed with doors of varying thickness, inasmuch as provision is incorporated therein for adjustability whereby the strap which is afxed to the inner face ofl the door may .be shifted toward or from the roller axis so as to assure a correct nt in every case. This feature of adjustment extends also to the positioning of the rollers beyond the side edges of the door, so as to assure retention of the rollers within the channels of the rails. I would particularly point out the advantage of mounting the door with fittings near its lower end operating in vertical guides and with a tting near its upper end operating in a slanting guide. When fully open, the door occupies a slanting or inclined position in which the force of Ygravity is effective to induce a descent of the door to closed position whenever the lifting rope ris relaxed for this purpose; in executing this movement the lower end of the door moves straight down whereas the upper end of the door advances straight but in a direction which is both down and outward. In consequence the door, while closing, swings from a slanting toa vertical position, its own weight causing its upper end to advance toward the opening until finally the door abuts the interior face of the wall adjacent the opening against which it remains tightly fitted of its own accord. This action assures proper closing of the door with its bottom end sustained off the floor, whenever tension of the lifting rope is released, and the presence of loose material, such as bedding, beneath the door will not interfere with tight closing, due to this clearance .be-

low the door and the overlap of the sill block upon the outer face of the door. The feature of remote control is also important because in a hog house or other like structure, the line of junction between the side walls and roof is low, usually less than man-height, thereby making it inconvenient as well asdiicult to operate the door except from a distant point where full head room obtains.

An illustration of my improved up-and-over door installed in an approved hog house, is hereto appended.

I claim:

1. In combination with a building having a floor from which rises a wall through which is an opening, an up-and-over door positioned adjacent the inside face of the wall and adapted to abut thereagainst to furnish a closure for the opening, a sill block rested on the iioor and extended across the opening with one face in a plane adjacent one face of the door and in overlapping relation therewith, mountings for the door comprising a vertical guide for the lower end thereof and positioned upon the inside face of the wall adjacent the opening, an inclined overhead guide for the upper end of the door, a hanger provided with tandem rollers mounted for travel along the inclined guide and extended beyond the rollers at its lower end for pivotal connection with the door, the inclination of the overhead guide being sufficiently steep to force the upper portion of the door into a tight abutting position against the inside face of the wall when the -door is suspended in its fully lowered position 'with its lower edge spaced slightly from the floor, and when the door is in its fully raised position to occupy a slanting position above the opening in which gravity continues to exert a force tending to lower the door to closed position and automatically close the door when the latter is free to move from such raised position, said inclination of the inclined guide permitting an easy 'lifting of the door.

2. In combination with a building having a floor from which rises a wall through which is an opening, an up-and-over door positioned adjacent the inside face of the wall and adapted to abut thereagainst and furnish a closure for the opening, a sill block rested on the floor and extended across the opening with one face in a plane adjacent one face of the door and in overlapping relation therewith, mountings for the door comprising a vertical guide for the lower end thereof, an upper centrally arranged inclined guide for the upper end of the door terminating ata point short of the inner face thereof, and a hanger pivotally connected to the inner face of the door adjacent its top and extending inwardly therefrom and upwardly to said inclined guide and connected therewith for sliding movement only, said hanger supporting and maintaining vthe upper end of the door below the .inclined guide throughout the opening and closing movements of the door and acting to suspend the door invits lowermost position in spaced relation to the floor while abutting the inside faceof the wall.

3. In combination with a building having a Vfloor from which rises a wall with an opening therethrough, an up-and-over door positioned adjacent the inside face of the wall and adapted to abut thereagainst to furnish a closure for the vopenlng, lmountings for the door comprising a `vertical guide for the lower -end thereof, an inhanger and maintained thereby, with the aid of the inclined overhead guide, in fully closed position in engagement with the inside face of the wall and in spaced relation to the floor there- 5 below.

HOWARD J. FERRIS. 

